Category Archives: Gene Day Award

Post navigation

Featured

Update: Ceremony has been postponed, special panel at the Montreal Comic Con to take place on Saturday, July 7th at 5:30 pm to celebrate the nominees and the 2017 winners and inductees.

Please note: Dragon Award for Comics for Kids nominees are still pending. They will be added to the nominees list when available.

May 29, 2018 — Canada has a rich tradition of supporting our national arts communities with awards that recognize the achievements of our citizens in books, music, stage, television and film – the JOE SHUSTER AWARD is Canada’s national award that honours and raises the awareness of Canadians that create, self-publish and sell comic books, digital comics and graphic novels.

They are named after pioneering Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster (July 10, 1914- July 30, 1992), whose clear, dynamic style and inventive visual flourishes set the standard for graphic storytelling during the infancy of the North American comic book industry. It was Superman, a co-creation of Shuster and his friend and neighbour Jerry Siegel, published by National Periodical Productions (now known as DC Comics) that electrified the industry over 75 years ago in 1938 and, almost overnight, transformed comic books into an enormous pop-cultural phenomenon and spawned a legion of costume-clad adventure heroes and heroines.

It was the absence of Superman and his costumed peers from Canadian newsstands during World War II that would help spawn Canada’s first and last country-wide attempt at launching an indigenous, Canadian comic book industry and saw the rise of popular characters like Freelance, Nelvana and Johnny Canuck.

The end of the war eliminated these restrictions and Canadian comic companies disappeared shortly afterwards. Since then Canadian creators have been part of a larger North America-wide comic-book industry and in some cases, international publishing efforts, which is why we recognize Canadian creators who work within the framework of the larger comics ‘industry’ rather than only those creators who have successfully published their creations within Canada alone.

The award winners will be chosen by a jury vote to ensure every nominee is given adequate consideration.

All images shown are copyright (c) and trademark (TM) their respective owners, and are used to promote the nominations.

The ceremony date is still to be determined.

A special panel celebrating the nominees and some of the 2017 winners will take place at the Montreal Comic Con at 5:30PM on July 7, 2018 at the Palais des congrès, Montreal, QC. Room 512A

Named after the late Howard Eugene Day (1951-1982), this award honours Canadian comic book creators or creative teams who self-published their work but did not have the books distributed by a third party such as Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. The nominees were selected from individual publications submitted for review before the deadline of May 13th, 2017.

Named after the Harry Kremer, the original owner of Now & Then Books (in Kitchener, Ontario). The CCBCAA maintains a list of active comic book stores across the country and a database of recommendations, referrals and secret shopper reports.

This award recognizes the works which capture the attention and fascination of young readers, and help to create a passion for life-long reading. Works considered for this award are comic books and graphic novels by Canadian creators that are targeted at readers 14 and under. Nominees for this award are selected by a team of educators led by Jennifer Haines, MA, B.Ed., who is also the proprietor of Guelph, Ontario’s The Dragon comic book shop.

Nominees List Pending

The T.M. Maple Award / Prix T.M. Maple

The T.M. Maple Award will go to someone (living or deceased) selected from the Canadian comics community for achievements made outside of the creative and retail categories who have had a positive impact on the community.

Established in 2004, The Joe Shuster Awards are Canada’s national award recognizing outstanding achievement in the creation of comic books, graphic novels and webcomics. The awards are named after pioneering Toronto-born artist Joe Shuster who, along with writer Jerry Siegel, created the iconic super-powered hero, Superman. The name is used with the approval of the Estate of Joe Shuster – Michael Catron, Estate Agent.

The Joe Shuster Awards are assembled by the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association. For more information please contact Awards Director Kevin A. Boyd at kevin@joeshusterawards.com

Here’s a list of what we have received to date. All were self-published in 2017. The list is still being updated. If you still want to submit your comic for consideration please visit here.

Submissions are now closed as of today (5/13) – aside from one package at the post office which will be picked up 5/14.

And now a special Announcement

This year we will be diving the Gene Day Award into two categories, the names are still being worked out, but essentially we will be moving Anthology Collections featuring the work of 3 or more separate stories with different creators/creative teams into a separate category.

July 10, 2017 – Canada has a rich tradition of supporting our national arts communities with awards that recognize the achievements of our citizens in books, music, stage, television and film – the JOE SHUSTER AWARD is Canada’s national award that honours and raises the awareness of Canadians that create, self-publish and sell comics books, graphic novels and webcomics.

2014 Superman Coin from the Royal Canadian Mint – Art by Joe Shuster

They are named after pioneering Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster (July 10, 1914- July 30, 1992), whose clear, dynamic style and inventive visual flourishes set the standard for graphic storytelling during the infancy of the North American comic book industry. It was Superman, a co-creation of Shuster and his friend and neighbour Jerry Siegel, published by National Periodical Productions (now known as DC Comics) that electrified the industry over 75 years ago in 1938 and, almost overnight, transformed comic books into an enormous pop-cultural phenomenon and spawned a legion of costume-clad adventure heroes and heroines.

It was the absence of Superman and his costumed peers from Canadian newsstands during World War II that would help spawn Canada’s first and last country-wide attempt at launching an indigenous, Canadian comic book industry and saw the rise of popular characters like Freelance, Nelvana and Johnny Canuck.

The end of the war eliminated these restrictions and Canadian comic companies disappeared shortly afterwards. Since then Canadian creators have been part of a larger North America-wide comic-book industry and in some cases, international publishing efforts, which is why we recognize Canadian creators who work within the framework of the larger comics ‘industry’ rather than only those creators who have successfully published their creations within Canada alone.

The award winners will be chosen by a jury vote to ensure every nominee is given adequate consideration.

All images shown are copyright (c) and trademark (TM) their respective owners, and are used to promote the nominations.

The ceremony will take place on the first weekend of September 2017 in Toronto, ON. Exact date and time, venue & the Master of Ceremonies to be announced July 30, 2017 along with the Hall of Fame Inductees and recipient(s) of the TM Maple Award.

Named after the late Howard Eugene Day (1951-1982), this award honours Canadian comic book creators or creative teams who self-published their work but did not have the books distributed by a third party such as Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. The nominees were selected from individual publications submitted for review before the deadline of May 30th, 2016.

Harry Kremer Award (Retailers) / Prix Harry Kremer (Détaillants)Named after the Harry Kremer, the original owner of Now & Then Books (in Kitchener, Ontario). The CCBCAA maintains a list of active comic book stores and a database of recommendations, referrals and secret shopper reports. A separate Retailer Award Committee overseen by Scott VanderPloeg (Comic Book Daily) reviews the data and selects a short list of stores that have shown merit in a variety of categories. For inquiries please contact Scott at: kremerretailer@comicbookdaily.com

CYBER CITY COMIX (NORTH YORK, ON)

DRAWN & QUARTERLY (MONTREAL, QC)

GOLDEN AGE COLLECTABLES (VANCOUVER, BC)

L’IMAGINAIRE (LAURIER, QC)

TIMEMASTERS (ST. JOHN’S, NF)

The Dragon Award (Comics for Kids) / Le Prix Dragon (Bandes Dessinées pour Enfants)
This award recognizes the works which capture the attention and fascination of young readers, and help to create a passion for life-long reading. Works considered for this award are comic books and graphic novels by Canadian creators that are targeted at readers 14 and under. Nominees for this award are selected by a team of educators led by Jennifer Haines, MA, B.Ed., who is also the proprietor of Guelph, Ontario’s The Dragon comic book shop.

The T.M. Maple Award / Prix T.M. Maple
The T.M. Maple Award will go to someone (living or deceased) selected from the Canadian comics community for achievements made outside of the creative and retail categories who have had a positive impact on the community.

The recipient(s) of the TM Maple Award will be announced on July 30, 2017.

The inductees to the Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame will be announced on July 30, 2017.

2017 Sponsors:

Current sponsors include:
The Dragon
All New Comics
The Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund (CLLDF).

About The Joe Shuster Awards

Established in 2004, The Joe Shuster Awards are Canada’s national award recognizing outstanding achievement in the creation of comic books, graphic novels and webcomics. The awards are named after pioneering Toronto-born artist Joe Shuster who, along with writer Jerry Siegel, created the iconic super-powered hero, Superman. The name is used with the approval of the Estate of Joe Shuster – Michael Catron, Estate Agent.

The Joe Shuster Awards are assembled by the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association. For more information please contact Awards Director Kevin A. Boyd at kevin@joeshusterawards.com

Many thanks to everyone that sent in a copy of their books for consideration by the committee for the Gene Day Award, which honours self-published books from the previous calendar year. We received a lot of books and we’ve divided them into 2 sections:

those published in 2016 – these will be considered for this year’s Gene Day Award

those published in 2017 – these will be held for consideration for 2018

BROUGHT TO YOU BY HAPPY HARBOR COMICSJune 15, 2015 – Canada has a rich tradition of supporting our national arts communities with awards that recognize the achievements of our citizens in books, music, stage, television and film – the JOE SHUSTER AWARD is Canada’s national award that honours and raises the awareness of Canadians that create, self-publish and sell comics books, graphic novels and webcomics.

They are named after pioneering Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster (1914-1992), whose clear, dynamic style and inventive visual flourishes set the standard for graphic storytelling during the infancy of the North American comic book industry. It was Superman, a co-creation of Shuster and his friend and neighbour Jerry Siegel that electrified the industry over 75 years ago in 1938 and, almost overnight, transformed comic books into an enormous pop-cultural phenomenon and spawned a legion of costume-clad adventure heroes and heroines.

It was the absence of Superman and his costumed peers from Canadian newsstands during World War II that would help spawn Canada’s first and last country-wide attempt at launching an indigenous, Canadian comic book industry and saw the rise of popular characters like Freelance, Nelvana and Johnny Canuck. The end of the war eliminated these restrictions and Canadian comic companies disappeared shortly afterwards. Since then Canadian creators have been part of a larger North America-wide comic-book industry and in some cases, international publishing efforts, which is why we recognize Canadians who work within the framework of the larger comics ‘industry’.

Nominees were selected this spring from lists of creators of original works published and distributed during the year 2014, as well as reviewing websites, retail stores and more. Qualifying creators must be Canadian citizens – living at home or abroad, or a recognized as a permanent resident of Canada and been living in Canada for at least three years. The award winners will be chosen by a jury vote to ensure every nominee is given adequate consideration.

This award recognizes the works which capture the attention and fascination of young readers, and help to create a passion for life-long reading. Works considered for this award are comic books and graphic novels by Canadian creators that are targeted at readers 14 and under. Nominees for this award are selected by a team of educators led by Jennifer Haines, MA, B.Ed., who is also the proprietor of Guelph, Ontario’s The Dragon comic book shop.

Named after the late Howard Eugene Day (1951-1982), this award honours Canadian comic book creators or creative teams who self-published their work but did not have the books distributed by a third party such as Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. The nominees were selected from individual publications submitted for review before the deadline of May 30th, 2015.

Nominees for the Gene Day Award will be announced in early July 2015 along with the date and location of the award ceremony.

Harry Kremer Award (Retailers) / Prix Harry Kremer (Détaillants)

Named after the Harry Kremer, the original owner of Now & Then Books (in Kitchener, Ontario). The CCBCAA maintains a list of active comic book stores and a database of recommendations, referrals and secret shopper reports. A separate Retailer Award Committee overseen by Scott VanderPloeg and Anthony Falcone from Comic Book Daily reviews the data and selects a short list of stores that have shown merit in a variety of categories. For inquiries please contact them at: kremerretailer@comicbookdaily.com

The T.M. Maple Award will go to someone (living or deceased) selected from the Canadian comics community for achievements made outside of the creative and retail categories who have had a positive impact on the community.

MICHAEL HIRSH (1948-) AND PATRICK LOUBERT (1947-)
– Authors of the book The Great Canadian Comic Books, published in 1971, which looked primarily at the Canadian Whites, comics published in Canada during World War II. Hirsh and Loubert acquired the Bell Features archives and reprint rights for the comics, which included Nelvana of the Northern Lights and Johnny Canuck, from Bell’s capital investor John Ezrin. The archives included copies of the comics, original artwork and more which were used as the foundation for the book. It was followed by a two-year touring gallery exhibit ‘Comic Art Traditions in Canada, 1941-45.’ They would go on to form animation studio Nelvana, Ltd. (named after Adrian Dingle’s character) with Clive Smith and would later donate the material from Bell Features to the National Archives where they reside to this day, preserving part of our national comics heritage. Without their efforts, recent collections of Adrian Dingle’s Nelvana and Leo Bachle’s Johnny Canuck would not have been possible.

ROBERT CHARPENTIER (1960-2014)
– Rob or Bob as he was known to his friends and customers, was a long-time fixture on the Toronto comics scene as a comics retailer and fan. At his Danforth Avenue store Shining Knight Comics, later rebranded Comics & More, Bob believed strongly that the local comics shop should be active in, and support the local community. He sponsored many local teams, schools and young people’s organizations. In the summer of 2014 he was diagnosed with brain cancer and began treatment, but succumbed to the disease in late 2014, he was 54 years old.

DORIS SLATER (1918-1964)
Doris Slater of Chatham and later Toronto, Ontario attended the Ontario College of art in the late 1930’s, and was hired by brother-in-law Ted McCall at Anglo-American Comics to work on the first issues of Grand Slam Comics and Three Aces Comics for which she drew characters like Pat the Air Cadet and Martin Blake, The Animal King. In the fall of 1944 Doris made arrangements to draw scripts from Pat Joudry’s popular CBC radio show “Penny’s Diary” for Bell Features’ Active Comics 29-26. Around this time she also married popular Canadian crooner Russ Titus and soon had two children Robin and Patricia. The marriage did not last long as Titus moved to England to pursue an entertainment career under the name Larry Cross. After the decline of the Canadian comics industry, Doris drew commercially for magazines and children’s books and did murals. She would move to teaching, and taught art in Brantford and later Ottawa. In 1964, Doris Titus was killed in head on collision. Her daughter Patti, who was in the back seat, survived the accident. Doris Slater/Titus was 56, and is recognized as Canada’s first female comic book creator.

JAMES WALEY (1951-)
James Waley was the publisher, editor-in-chief, and sometimes writer, artist and colourist of Orb Magazine, a quality black and white magazine-sized anthology, which could be found on Canadian newsstands between 1974 and 1976. Orb lasted six issues. With it, Jim provided readers with some of the most sophisticated comic book stories available anywhere while giving a start to many young creators, many of whom would become the finest Canadian comic artists and writers of their generation. He also co-created Canadian superhero the Northern Light, who debuted in Orb and would later appear in the American publication Power Comics. Waley’s many other subsequent accomplishments include writing for Heavy Metal, creating a comic from scratch for Charlton, filling the Propeller Gallery with art by prominent Toronto comic book artists, running the monthly one-day convention “Supershow” for many years at the Ontario College of Art, and being instrumental in developing the Joe Shuster Award as co-founder and instigator of the idea of a Canadian comic book award.

Established in 2004, The Joe Shuster Awards are Canada’s national award recognizing outstanding achievement in the creation of comic books, graphic novels and webcomics. The awards are named after pioneering Toronto-born artist Joe Shuster who, along with writer Jerry Siegel, created the iconic super-powered hero, Superman. The name is used with the approval of the Estate of Joe Shuster – Michael Catron, Estate Agent.

The Joe Shuster Awards will be presented on Saturday, September 20th in Toronto, Ontario at BACK SPACE TORONTO, 587A College Street (2nd Floor). Ceremony will commence at 8 pm.

June 4, 2014 – Canada has a rich tradition of supporting our national arts communities with awards that recognize the achievements of our citizens like the Genie Awards for film and television and the Juno Awards for music – the JOE SHUSTER AWARD is Canada’s national award that honours and raises the awareness of Canadians that create, self-publish and sell comics books, graphic novels and webcomics.

Joe Shuster

They are named after pioneering Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster (1914-1992), whose clear, dynamic style and inventive visual flourishes set the standard for graphic storytelling during the infancy of the North American comic book industry. It was Superman, a co-creation of Shuster and his friend Jerry Siegel, that electrified the industry over 75 years ago in 1938 and, almost overnight, transformed comic books into an enormous pop-cultural phenomenon.

Nominees were selected this spring from lists of creators of original works published and distributed during the year 2013. Qualifying creators must be Canadian citizens – living at home or abroad, or a recognized permanent resident. The award winners will be chosen by a jury vote to ensure every nominee is given adequate consideration.

Okay, so we’re nearing the end of the extension given for the Retailer, Webcomics, Comics for Kids, and Gene Day Awards and if all goes as planned we’ll be announcing the nominations next week.

I would like to thank the many folks who have contacted me about being involved in the awards this year, I’ll be contacting you all shortly and we can begin planning for the ceremony and fundraising as soon as the nominations list goes public.

As usual, it should be stated that since these are awards with only 7 (sometimes 8) nominees per category, not everyone can be nominated for an award. Our committees have been narrowing down the lists to a smaller set of nominations (in some categories from hundreds of individual artists) and we know that inevitably some people will feel we neglected a creator, a book, or a store…

Congratulations to the winners of the Doug Wright Awards for 2014 (handed out as usual at TCAF in Mid-May) for non-mainstream, non-superhero comics:Best Book – Paul Joins the Scouts by Michel Rabagliati (Conundrum Press)
Spotlight aka “The Nipper” – Steven Gilbert for The Journal of the Main Street Secret Lodge
Pigskin Peters (non-narrative) – “Out of Skin” by Emily Carroll

We have a near complete list of English and French creators ready and so we are initiating the nominating process and should have some announcements to make in time for Free Comic Book Day (May 3rd).

We’d like to thank all of the creators that sent in books for consideration for the Gene Day Award this year, we’re still accepting submissions right up until May, so there’s still time.

The Hall of Fame committee has initiated discussions on who will be included in 2014.

Congratulations to Jeff Lemire – in addition to writing Animal Man (now completed), Green Arrow and the upcoming Justice League United (formerly Canada, but set in Canada), Jeff will be writing Teen Titans: Earth One, an original graphic novel being illustrated by Terry and Rachel Dodson.

Share this post:

In Spring 2005 the first annual Joe Shuster Awards for Canadian Comic Book Creators was held at the Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon and a lot of great books and talent have been honoured over the decade since then.

As 2013 draws to a close, please join us as we present an overview of 9 years worth of Joe Shuster Award Winners.

Note that some winners in 2005-2008 were selected by public voting. In 2009 all categories became jury selected.

ACHIEVEMENT 2005, 2008
2005 – Dave Sim and Gerhard for the completion of Cerebus. Begun in 1977, this 300-issue series is a milestone in comic book publishing and is the longest running creator-owned comic book series
2008 – David Watkins for using comics as a teaching tool.

Jeremy Knowles is a 17-year-old outcast who dreams of being a great artist. But when he suffers a severe mental breakdown brought on by bullying and other pressures at school, his future is called into question – as is his very existence! Can he survive the experience through the healing power of art? And just what does it mean to be “crazy,” anyway?

Alternative Comics, 256 Pages, SRP of $19.95.

Nominated for a Gene Day Award.

Share this post:

Toronto, ON – Saturday, August 24. Earlier this evening at the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Jackman Hall, the 9th annual Joe Shuster Awards were presented at a gala ceremony hosted by the Toronto Star’s ROB SALEM and Cartoonist TY TEMPLETON.

So in 8 days the big show aka Fan Expo Canada starts at the Metro Convention Centre. This year the show is so massive they had to add a second building and for the first time ever the event will be in both the North and the South Buildings.

Most of the comics folk are in the South Building though, and that’s where the comics programming will be as well.

Many Joe Shuster Award nominees and winners (past and present) are at the event, and we encourage you to visit the website to look at the floorplans and schedules.

Our retail sponsors The Dragon and The Comic Book Lounge (my store) will be in the dealers section along with Harry Kremer award winning retailers Big B Comics (Hamilton) and the Silver Snail (Toronto).

There are two Canadian comics related panels worth checking out:

FRIDAY AUG 23 – 11:15 AM In room 703

THE CANADIAN SUPERHERO RENAISSANCE

With projects like the True Patriot anthology, the Captain Canuck webseries, the Lost Heroes documentary, The Wolverine movie and more – are we witnessing a Canadian superhero renaissance? Where is this all coming from? Does the industry need this? Will the market support it? Are Canadian superheroes poised to be the next big thing in comics?

During WWII the Canadian government initiated the War Exchange Conservation Act and Canadian artists stepped up to fill the void of comics on our newsstands.

Join moderator Ivan Kocmarek and a panel of industry experts as they discuss the first age of Canadian comics and characters like Iron Man, Johnny Canuck, Freelance, The Penguin and many other forgotten heroes and their impact on Canadian-made comics.

ALSO DON’T FORGET THE JOE SHUSTER AWARDS ARE TAKING PLACE ON SATURDAY NIGHT – JACKMAN HALL, ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO! Seating at 8pm – Ceremony to begin around 8:30PM

The Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association is pleased to announce the venue of the 2013 Joe Shuster Awards Ceremony. The 8 2013 awards and 3 Hall of Fame presentations will be presented on SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2013 at JACKMAN HALL at the Art Gallery of Ontario, starting at 8:30 PM.

Seating: 200 – priority seating for nominees, their family and friends and other industry professionals, with limited general admission seating.

The Art Gallery of Ontario – 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON

The Art Gallery of Ontario is an art museum in Toronto’s Downtown Grange Park district, on Dundas Street West between McCaul Street and Beverley Street. Its collection includes more than 80,000 works spanning the 1st century to the present day.

Jackman Hall has it’s own entrance on McCaul Street, South of Dundas Street West (pictured above)

.About The Joe Shuster Awards

Established in 2004, The Joe Shuster Awards are Canada’s first national and bilingual award recognizing outstanding achievement in the creation of comic books, graphic novels and webcomics. The awards are named after pioneering Toronto-born artist Joe Shuster who, along with writer Jerry Siegel, created the iconic super-powered hero, Superman. The name is used with the approval of the Estate of Joe Shuster – Michael Catron, Estate Agent.

2013 marks the 75th year since the debut of Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in the pages of Action Comics #1. Tom Grummett prepared this portrait of Joe in 2005 that has adorned the Joe Shuster Award plaques ever since. Fun facts: Joe was left handed, the building in the background is the original Toronto Star building that inspired the Daily Star / Daily Planet building in Superman’s Metropolis. On the drawing table behind Joe is an earlier version of ‘The Superman’.

Canada has a rich tradition of supporting our national arts communities with awards that recognize the achievements of our citizens like the Genie Awards for film and television and the Juno Awards for music – the JOE SHUSTER AWARD is Canada’s national award that honours and raises the awareness of Canadians that create, self-publish and sell all kinds of comics, graphic novels and webcomics.

Joe Shuster in 1975.

They are named after pioneering Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster (1914-1992), whose clear, dynamic style and inventive visual flourishes set the standard for graphic storytelling during the infancy of the North American comic book industry. It was Superman, a co-creation of Shuster and his friend Jerry Siegel, that electrified the industry 75 years ago in 1938 and, almost overnight, transformed comic books into an enormous pop-cultural phenomenon.

Nominees were selected this spring from lists of creators including all eligible original works published and distributed during the year 2012. Qualifying creators must be Canadian citizens living at home or abroad, as well as permanent residents in Canada. The award winners will be chosen by a jury vote to ensure every nominee is given adequate consideration.

The awards will be presented at a gala ceremony in Toronto, open to the public, on the evening of Saturday, August 24, 2013 at 8:30 PM. This year the awards will be held in JACKMAN HALL, at the Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto.

Share this post:

Post navigation

About Us

Comic books, like Jazz, are a North American invention that has been embraced all over the globe --- and from the Platinum Age to the present, Canadian artists, writers and cartoonists have been shaping it along the way.

The Joe Shuster Awards celebrate Canadians who create comics at home or abroad. They are named after Joe Shuster, the Canadian artist that co-created a character that has had tremendous impact on the industry and the world.

The Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association seeks to identify and provide FREE resources on the who, what, when and where of Canadians working in comics, selling comics, and celebrating comics.

What if a Canadian Creator Moves Away? Joe Shuster, Hal Foster – are they really Canadian?